An Alabama inmate has sued the Department of Corrections and a private
prison company in Louisiana alleging that negligence allowed an
unsavory, sexually charged atmosphere in the prison where she was being
held.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 1 in Louisiana federal court, claims that
guards at the South Louisiana Correctional Center sexually assaulted at
least two prisoners, including raping the woman who filed the suit, and
that the guards had sex with one another and played cards and drank
beer during the night shift.

The Alabama Department of Corrections pays the private prison in
Basile, La., to house more than 100 female prisoners because Alabama's
prison system is not large enough to hold them.

Alabama prisons spokesman Brian Corbett said it would be inappropriate
to comment because of the pending litigation.

The four guards named in the lawsuit have been fired. Also, an
Evangeline Parish grand jury indicted them on charges of malfeasance in
office for sexual conduct prohibited for people confined in a
correctional institution. All four pleaded not guilty.

"It would be important to note that these, at this point in time, are
simply allegations," Corbett said.

Efforts to reach LCS Corrections Services officials Monday failed.

The lawsuit claims that Alabama prison Commissioner Donal Campbell
failed to properly investigate LCS before shipping Alabama women there
and failed to implement proper policies and procedures for the
oversight of the contract. The lawsuit alleges constitutional
violations.

It also says that the limited programs offered for inmates at the
private prison contribute to poor quality of treatment. The inmate who
filed the lawsuit contends she got no medical treatment after the
assaults and got no educational services at the LCS prison.

Montgomery lawyer Tom Azar, who is representing the inmate who filed
suit, said he has been told by other women that problems continue at
the Louisiana prison.

"No, it has not stopped," he said. "They say if anything it's gotten
worse, but they don't give me any details."

At one time, more than 300 Alabama women were housed at the private
prison. That number declined after an increase in paroles. However, it
is rising again - 185 on Monday - because of a settlement in a federal
lawsuit. The settlement, which governs the treatment and medical care
for Alabama's female prisoners, caps the number of women at Tutwiler
prison at 700 by Nov. 1.